Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Kevin took the week off last week to work on projects around the house. It coincided perfectly with Andrew's Preschool Thanksgiving Feast. We left Catie at home napping with a babysitter and he was SO excited for so much 1:1 attention from the both of us. He was such a ham and kept smiling at us while we waited for him to perform.

I was shocked he said something so nice. Usually when we ask him what he is thankful for he says "I am thankful for volcanoes."

We are so grateful for having such a cute little guy in our lives! I can't believe it has almost been four years since he was born!

A week of gratitude

Last Friday Jessie, Cat, and I drove down to Santa Barbara to meet up with my mom and Elise for the Santa Barbara International Marathon and Half Marathon. Jessie and my mom ran the full marathon and Elise, Cat, and I ran the half.

From November 2011

The first thing I am grateful for this week is that the half marathon is OVER! It was a beautiful and hard experience. I think I am going to post about it in more detail in a separate post. It was just one of the fun things we did for our Girls weekend. We also stuffed our faces with pizza at Rusty's Pizza and ate lots of Mexican food at Chipotle... in addition to eating huge ice cream sundaes at Ben and Jerrys. We ran a lot after all... so we totally deserved it, right? We also did some shopping in downtown Santa Barbara and just lounged in our hotel rooms. Of course the one morning we could sleep in, Cat and I woke up at 7:30am and couldn't go back to sleep. I had such a great time sharing a room with her though and enjoyed lots of chatting time.

We also played the role of tourists and stopped by for a visit at the Mission Santa Barbara before we headed home on Sunday.



On Monday my friend Chrissie planned the most adorable Thanksgiving themed Mommy and Me Book Club class for the kiddos. I think Andrew's favorite parts were eating marshmallows and pounding on the drum!

From November 2011

From November 2011

I have felt like a grump all week (and Kevin agrees that I have been)... but last night we took a family trip with Shari to Don Jose's in Alamo and after downing almost two baskets of tortilla chips I think I got my good mood back. Man that food (in addition to the two baskets of chips) was good! Watching Kevin and Andrew eat churros also made me happy.

From November 2011

This morning Andrew and I finally made our Thankful Tree. I have had this idea on our schedule for awhile but it just never happened. I loved listening to what he came up with as we brainstormed. "I am thankful for volcanoes..." was first on his list.



We are also thankful for this little cutie. She loves to let go of furniture and just clap for herself and attempt to move forward. Today she took an actual step or two. I was upstairs the first real time... and missed it (she took 3 steps), so she tried again for me later and took a step or two and I managed to film a bit of it.

From November 2011

From November 2011

Andrew is also keeping us entertained this week. He is so proud of his newest accomplishment- moving across the monkey bars!

From November 2011

Tomorrow my sister Elise is going to be on CMT's Top Secret Recipe talking about Mrs. Fields... so I am also thankful for an excuse to visit Mrs. Fields :) It is going to be part of my celebration. (Mrs. Fields is giving me several gift certificates to giveaway on my Toddler Approved blog too... so if you want some free cookies, drop by and enter the giveaway tomorrow). I'm hosting a cookie party on Friday night as well (to watch the show), so that will be another fun event to be grateful for.

Last but not least, I am grateful that Kevin has been home this week! Despite being a grump for the first part of the week, we've had a lot of fun. On Tuesday night Shari was so nice to babysit for the kids while we went out to dinner to CPK (Thanks Shari!). After lots of bread, pasta, and a stop at Cheesecake Factory for dessert, we came home for the night. Today we just had fun running errands together, helping Catie try to walk, catching up on TV shows, and eating lunch as a family.

Tomorrow Andrew has his Thanksgiving Feast at preschoool... so the fun will continue!  

Tired

I'm tired. Seriously, completely worn out.

I'm not quite sure why, since I've been going to bed earlier than normal and having all this girl trippy fun... but I really would love to curl up in a ball and start hibernating right now. 

This afternoon we hibernated in our house. I had a two hour phone chat with one of my best buds (who also helps me write our Toddler Approved blog)... and the kiddos cooperated really well and slept/had quiet time.

After that, I tackled these eyesores. My "crap" cupboards, as my friend Alissa likes to call them.

They were in need of some serious help. I organized them about 6 months ago... and they have been begging for help ever since!

Now they look so much better and are much more organized

Ah! I thought I was crazy when I was snapping pictures of the before, but now it makes me so happy to see how much progress I made.

Hopefully I'm not the only one with such terrible looking cupboards. Next week we are going to tackle our garage and a gazillion other projects. Shari is coming out to visit and help Kevin with loads of projects. He is taking his last week of paternity leave off to work on anything and everything he wants to do (he has definitely earned it after so much time playing Mr. Mom!).

Before the hibernating happened, Andrew and I went on a date. We left Catie with her weekly babysitter and we went to the mall. On our way Andrew said, "first I want to get a cookie, then I want to ride the rides and get pretzels, and then I want to buy some clothes for Catie." That kid is totally mine! He said that we needed to get Catie some new pjs and new shirts. He loves to help pick out clothes for her. He is going to be a great husband for a lucky girl someday.

In addition to hibernating, we had a Screen Free day today. It was beautiful. I only peeked and looked at Gmail once (hmm... maybe twice). I was pretty proud of myself for going over 12 hours without using the computer, iPad, or internet on my phone. I may have made up for it by chatting on the phone though... so I'm not sure which one is better? :)

I was actually very productive though... which is why I am probably tired. I also felt so much more present during the day because I wasn't checking my phone to see Facebook messages or read blogs. I am committing to doing that at least once a month from now on.

Catie had a great day and took 2 steps. She can stay standing all alone, balanced, for a few seconds and then steps forward once or twice and then falls into me. Andrew and I are competing for the roll of her biggest cheerleaders. I love seeing her big smile and how proud she is of herself.

I am also proud to say that I am raising a dramatic girl- ha! She is already throwing tantrums. Is she a teenager already? Today she threw her whole body on the floor, head pounding on the floor, flailing, and crying because I walked away from her for a second  and I guess she wanted me to pick her up? I can already tell we are in for a treat when she starts the terrible 2s and 3s ;)

I am so sad I only got pictures of my cupboards today and not crazy Cate's antics. Her newest nickname is "crazy." I usually omit the Cate part and just say, "hey Crazy, what's up?"... You never quite know what to expect from this cute little one.

Yesterday we created a cornflake sensory tub in the kitchen to keep the kids occupied while I got stuff ready for a YWs activity. It was messy and amazingly fun. Andrew played while Catie stuffed her face with cornflakes and I made fondue. It was fabulous. I really like these two... even when I feel like I am going insane.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for SB to run the 1/2 marathon. I have really low expectations for myself. We're going to have a lot of shopping and eating time after the race. That is what I am most looking forward to! Wish me luck!

PS- If you are still reading this super long post... I was totally excited to discover that two little projects that Andrew and I made were featured on some blogs I read this week.

Babble's The New Home Ec by Ashley Hackshaw who writes at Little Blue Boo (I love her blog!)

Source: blogs.babble.com via Kristina on Pinterest

The Happy Home Fairy and Make and Takes who both featured a cute gratitude turkey treat jar we made with leftover Halloween candy. I need to make a lot more so we can get rid of all the candy still hanging around!

Source: toddlerapproved.blogspot.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Anyways, time to go finish off my Mrs. Fields cookie sandwich and hit the sack!

PPS- My twin sister will be on CMT's Top Secret Recipe episode next Thursday night as they take on trying to replicate the Mrs. Fields cookie recipe. You know you want to watch it... she is the Mrs. Fields super fan.

K, now I am really tired. Goodnight!

Sweet Shower of a Weekend

My cousin Nicole is getting married a few days after Christmas. We had to make sure that she got showered with lots of love and treats... so my mom threw her a big bridal shower last weekend and we got to go and help out!

Once again I left the kiddos with Kevin (he is quite the super mom dad now)... and I boarded the plane with Jessie and my cousin Jenny and we just chatted and enjoyed the ride. My cousin Allison and Aunt Laurel met us at the airport in Salt Lake and then we all piled in a car and drove to Provo. Allison flew all the way from Florida! 

Friday night we gorged ourselves on Macaroni Grill and Sweet Tooth Fairy cake bites while we prepped for the party.

Saturday was spent decorating, chatting, eating, celebrating, eating, and chatting again! 

As usual, my mom did an amazing job with the spread of desserts and appetizers. I am still sad that I didn't eat nearly enough. I just couldn't fit any more in!

She also did the most adorable candy bar. Check out the darling personalized labels for the candy jars.

Yum Yum!

All our girl chat time made the weekend so much fun. I don't think we'd all been together (all of us at the same time) since Jenny's wedding over 6 years before. 

We also managed to fit in our traditional twins photo (my mom with her twin sister, and Elise and I together) AND we also made sure to hit up Cafe Rio and The Sweet Tooth Fairy while we were in Provo. I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it.

I am looking forward to another girls weekend starting tomorrow. I'm running a big race in Santa Barbara with these ladies (and Cat). I don't feel ready at all, and it is says it might rain, but at least we'll have a good time.

Cate is 11 months old

Can you believe it?

I sure can't! 

I love this little cutie to pieces. There is only one person who loves her more (besides Kevin)... and that is herself! If there is a mirror close by she loves to smooch herself.

Cracks me up! It is making me a little sad that we got rid of the majority of our mirrored closet doors.

This girl loves to rock in her rocker... mostly because it gets her closer to the windows so that she can pull on the blinds. She will rarely sit still. 

For her 11 month birthday I dressed her up in this darling outfit she inherited from a friend. Kevin laughed and said that this was the cutest she'd looked in a week (other than Halloween)... since he never brushed her hair while I was gone and she yanked out every bow he stuck in it. I still need to post the pics from last week. The jeggings were mis-used and Kev's coordinated outfits for Cate were pretty awesome.

We spent today doing Cate's favorite things- Crawling and climbing the stairs... and trying to escape or sneak and do things she's not supposed to do!

Can you tell she's proud of herself?

We also played at the park this afternoon and I let Cate do what she wanted to do instead of just carrying her around following Andrew.

The two crazies love to try and race each other up the slides. Cate goes nowhere, but tries really hard. I don't follow the whole "don't climb the slide" rule most of the time. I think of the slide as a baby treadmill. I love it.

I love this pic of Cate freaking out on the swings because she is so excited.

My baby is definitely not a baby any more. I never really felt like she was much of a baby anyway since she's always been such a big girl.

Conversations about Cate lately:

Friend: "She is so adorable. When does she start nursery (class for kids age 18 months)?"

Me: "In 9 months. Yes, she's a big girl."

Random person: "How old is your daughter?"

Me: "Almost 11 months." 

Random person: "Wow, she's a big one!"

Some info about our Catie Cate:

- She wears sizes 12-18 months clothes.

- She freaks out kicking and smiling when she sees her dad now

- She wears size 4 diapers and should probably wear size 5 at night. 

- She eats 3-4 bottles each day (8 ounces) and loves food- especially apple cinnamon oatmeal and pasta with red sauce

- She can turn herself around and go down our small set of stairs ALL BY HERSELF. This skill that Kevin taught her last week has saved my sanity. 

- She has a sixth sense and knows when we've left the gate on the stairs open... and she crawls towards it like her life depends on it.

- She cries if anyone says hello to her and thinks that they are going to take her away (maybe?). Today one of the cleaning ladies said, "Hi baby, you are so cute!" and she screamed and cried for 10 minutes. 

- She finally likes her babysitter Taylor and will smile and play with her maybe 3 out of the 4 hours each week. 

- She blows kisses constantly 

- She and Andrew love giggling together and she'll laugh anytime he laughs

- She is an adorable cuddler and loves to be close by to both me and Kevin.

- She is Andrew's biggest fan... and she is his biggest enemy sometimes. Who knew her baby toys were so cool? 

- Her current favorite toys are Andrew's firetruck, Sophie the giraffe, Talking Elmo and Talking Brobee (she is IN LOVE), and all of the Little People vehicles (mostly because she likes to pull them off the shelf and make them smash onto the floor)

- This month she stuck her hand in the toilet for the first time (ick!), emptied several trash cans onto the floor, and stuck her head through our banister (scary!). She keeps us on our toes and Andrew is always a step ahead of me watching out for her.

We are so excited to spend this month planning her first birthday party!

I'm still trying to decide what I want to do- big party with lots of friends/adults and older kids and some kids her age or small party with family and a few kids her age.... ??? Andrew didn't get a party when he turned one, so at least I have nothing to compete with.

Happy 11 months Caitlin!